Boom Operator Q&A

[Guest OSP_Pilot]

OK, I looked through the search function of the board and couldn't find it. I'm looking into applyin for a boomer position and wanted to get the skinny on the process. Is there an age limit? I have going on 15 years AFRES/Ang time. I am a pilot for a law-enforcement agency here in Ohio, so I do have some idea of the CRM aspect of things. I looked into trying to go UPT, but I'll be 35 in March '07 so I'm pooched on that avenue. Is being a boomer worth it? Although I won't be a pilot on a 135, will my interaction as an aircrew member give me valuable experience that I can bring back to my civilian flying job? Any hints, suggestions....etc gladly welcomed

[Guest C-21 Pilot]

Best of luck....

I wouldn't shrug off the pilot opportunity that quickly - regardless of age. There are always waiver opportrunities. I would immediately begin answering the following - if it does fall thru, there' the link to the boom POC as well:

The 121st Air Refueling Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard is accepting resumes for part-time Pilots and part-time Boom Operators. We hold selection boards, on an as-needed basis, about once a year for each crew position. We fly Pacer CRAG Block 30 KC-135Rs. Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base is located in Columbus, in the center of the state: it is 2 hours from Cleveland, 2.5 hours from Cincinnati, and 1 hour from Dayton. Please contact us if you are interested.

Boom Operator applicants contact: SMSgt Tom Guard, DSN 696-4579, COMM (614) 492-4579, E-Mail tom.guard@ohcolu.ang.af.mil

Pilot applicants contact: LtCol Chris Miller, DSN 696-4379, COMM (614) 492-4379, E-Mail christopher.miller@ohcolu.ang.af.mil

[Guest OSP_Pilot]

I've often wondered about waivers. On my civilian job I average between 800-1,000 hrs. per year of fixed wing time logged. I was going to ask some folks who are typically on the selection board if this kind of experience would help get through on waivers. I just didn't want people to get the idea that I thought I was "entitled" because of experience and the fact that I work for a law enforcement agency. We just picked up a Cessna Caravan recently, so hopefully soon I will start logging turbine time also. Thanks for the tip and advice C-21

[Guest Humps]

OSP_Pilot,

I am finishing -135 boom training at Altus now...my story is similar to yours, I was prior mx, too old for a pilot slot, am civilian pilot etc.

No age limit AFAIK (I'm 39)

Is being a boom worth it? Yes... for me, but YMMV.

Would you learn things you can take back to your civilian flying? Sure, but not so much that it would be worth it on that basis alone.

PM me if you have more questions.

Humps

[Guest ender]

I know it's been discussed before, but I do have a few questions on tech school for boom operators.

First, I already know there's required SERE training, but how often must one take a refresher course?

Second, I hear there's also a training session at lackland for aircrew members. What goes on at this point in training? can anyone elaborate?

Finally, how many block tests are there and how is each block broken down?

At first I wasn't too thrilled about working on the flightline(wanted to work in ISO docks or R&R) but it gave me the opportunity to get to know some of the aircrew members, particularly the boomers. Some were nice enough to let me take a ride with them on a refueling mission, and as soon as I got back, I changed my focus from backshop maintenance to aircrew. Being on an air refueling mission really changed my outlook on life. As I am in the Guard I know the only way to obtain a slot with the boomers is to wait for one to retire or expire, whichever happens first. However I've been in constant contact with them and they'd let me know when a position opens up. I can't wait to finally step up and fly!

[HerkFE]

ender,

Where are you located? I can't answer any of your questions about boom training but will offer up a suggestion. If you really want to get in the air, and don't want to wait forever for someone to die off, you may want to consider the Herk. We recently picked up a 135 crew chief to be a load. He got tired of waiting around as well and says he never looks back on his decision. I, of course, am partial to the front end of the airplane and since you have a crew chief AFSC you would qualify to go the FE route as well.

[RASH]

ender,

Where are you located? I can't answer any of your questions about boom training but will offer up a suggestion. If you really want to get in the air, and don't want to wait forever for someone to die off, you may want to consider the Herk. We recently picked up a 135 crew chief to be a load. He got tired of waiting around as well and says he never looks back on his decision. I, of course, am partial to the front end of the airplane and since you have a crew chief AFSC you would qualify to go the FE route as well.

Crew chief AFSC no longer required to be an FE. We're currently training former TRANS and Finance guys to be FEs at the FTU. Not providing an opinion, just stating facts...

[Clayton Bigsby]

EAUC = Enlisted Aircrew Undergraduate College, I think. It's that basic aircrew training at Lackland, they teach you basics of how aircraft function, systems, weights arms and moments, stuff like that. Some will be easy as a wrench-turner, but it's also an introduction into the math you'll be doing in BBOC/BLM, among other things. I can't speak too much about it since I didn't have to go.

Booms deal a little less with pax since refueling is their primary mission, but there are plenty of -135s and -10s running around with pax and cargo onboard. For the -135s there were entire Guard units on orders for a long time flying the airborne cattlecars, the "135 rotator" moving crews from one end of the system to the other, seemed they didn't do any A/R at all. KC-10s, being at such obvious hubs in the AMC system, seems they'll always have ORF space-A's tagging along whenever they go somewhere (except Al Dhafra), plus they can carry a bunch of pallets so they tend to do that too...so yeah, booms deal with pax and cargo too.

I can't speak too much about boom stuff since I'm *not* a boom, but there's plenty of booms around here to answer that stuff.

[Guest Boom]

I'm a KC-135 Instructor Boom (Active Duty). Here are some answers.

Enlisted Aviator Undergraduate Course (Lackland) - If you're in the Guard, I think this is actually optional for you. It's mandatory for Active Duty and Reservists. All it does is teach you basic aircrew stuff, make you go through the altitude chamber, how the Enlisted Aviator (1A's) careerfield is structured, etc. It's about 2 1/2 weeks.

Basic Boom Operator Course (Lackland) - This is the three level (and temp wing awarding) course. It will teach you the history of the air refueling mission, tankers, etc. Also it will go into some basic information on the KC-135 and KC-10. It won't go into actual specifics of either airframe due to the fact you'll have both future KC-135 and KC-10 Booms in the same class. They'll also teach you about some of the missions we fly (Air Refueling, Coronet, Business Effort, Banner Support, etc). The course is about a month long.

Boom Initial Qualification (Altus) - This is the course that will get you qualified as a basic KC-135 Boom Operator. The first two months are academics taught by the civilians from the Flight Safety company. You'll learn about the systems (and take a lot of CBT's) like the APU's, Electrics, Pneumatics, Hydraulics, Cargo (you'll also get a Cargo check ride during this phase), & finally the Air Refueling system. The school is a standard 0730 to 1630 during the Academics phase. After the academics portion you'll fly in the BOPTT which is the Boom Operator sims (only one in the AF) which will get you used to refueling in the boom pod and also help you trouble shoot some malfunctions. Once you're done with the Academics/Sim phase you'll go across the street to the two flying squadron (54/55 ARS) and be assigned one or two Instructor Booms (IB's). You'll do ground knowledge (GK) over all the systems when you're not flying but you'll need eight flights and a check ride to graduate BIQ. You'll also take a open and a closed book test before you get your check ride. The whole BIQ lasts about 3 1/2 months.

Combat Survival (Fairchild) - This is the SERE school that people always talk about. They'll have academics for the first few days then they'll take you out in the woods for six days with different activities that you and your element (some junior enlisted and officers) have to accomplish. The SERE instructors will also show you how to survive out in the woods if you do become find yourself in that situation. The last part of SERE is actually classified and no one here can go into detail about it. But let's just say it's a very vivid course. It's about 17 days.

Water Survival (Pensacola NAS) - This course teaches how to survive out in the water if you become stranded. It's very short and it's a fun time down in Florida. It's about 3-4 days.

After you finish all of those schools then you'll go back to your unit and fly with IB's to get mission qual'd (depends on your unit). You'll have to get day/night heavy qualified (C-17, C-5, KC-10, B-2) and day/night fighter qualified (all fighters). Then depending on your unit you'll also get KC-135T model differences trained (if your unit has them), MPRS (Mult-Point Refueling System, I think only AD has MPRS), and any other mission qualification training your unit has. After you complete this then you'll be a mission qualified Boom and you'll be able to fly by yourself.

The whole pipeline takes from start to finish takes about a year.

I love being a Boom. And with that said I didn't even put Boom down to begin with when I applied to crosstrain. I put down Loadmaster (I was a non-flyer in a C-130 squadron at the time). I'm glad that I got to be a Boom and haven't regretted my decision one bit. I do agree with HerkFE that any job in the air is better than one on the ground. But I do think that Booms have more responsibility in the air obviously than Loadmasters do. If you go on the KC-135, we don't haul a lot of cargo. In fact most of the time we do it's one or two pallets at a time and that's going to and from the AOR. We do seem to haul a lot of passengers though, but that also depends on what base you're stationed at too. I don't know if you'd haul a lot of pax out of Hickam with having C-17's units there.

If you have any other questions let me know.

[Guest Pork_fried]

I've had three AFSC's in the AF, with Boom Operator as my third. I enjoyed the other two and Boom still takes the cake! If EAUC is only an option, i'd still take it. We had ANG folks in our class. 3 were boom's and 2 were C-5 Flight Engineers. You found the right place for answers. Those two Boom's who commented above hit every thing on the nose. Just giving my $0.2 on how bad ass being a boom on the KC-135 is. I will say that I have some C-17 buddies that have a much better TDY and deployment selection/options than a boomer. Their stories sound more like what I have heard from ANG Boom's - Which is a good thing.

Good luck

[lilbigman]

I got approved for retraining to be a boom operator in August while I was deployed earlier this year. The class start date is May 2010. Does anyone know if my class date can be moved to an earlier start date? Currently, my squadron has me doing shop/flight chief duties since they know I am leaving; they won't even let me go TDY anymore even though my classes don't start until May. Any suggestions or ideas about this? Also, when should I receive a list of items that I need to get for my classes? I always hear people talking about how the waiting sucks; now I understand what they were talking about.

[skinny]

Highly doubtful your class date will change. There are many forces at work that determine who goes where and when and "wanting to go earlier" isn't one of them. They have to line you up not only for BBOC/BIQ at Altus, but EAUC at Lackland first and Survival at Fairchild/P-Cola. That's a lot of moving parts to be moving around just because you don't want to wait. Keep your chin up, you'll be there before you know it. Hell, even if you were able to get it moved to the left, by the time all the changes got made, it would be May anyway.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the dead time. Congrats on the retraining, you won't be dissapointed.

[lilbigman]

Thanks for the quick response. I love this site. My classes (BBOC and EAUC) start in Lackland and SERE/Water Survival are at Fairchild. No information on the Altus portion though. Do you think the change to training locations has something to do with it?

When should I recieve that part from AFPC? Who sends down the list of required equipment for training and when should I receive it? Know any books I read to get ready for everything? I went to the AETC site and it showed a big list but I forget where it was located at. Overall, how long do you think training will be (would like to work with the 135s since I used to work on that airframe)

When I was deployed, the Wisconsin aircrew let me check out the boom area on the 135. Uh, not trying to sound weird, but do they make different size chairs for refueling? I layed down and only a small portion of my chest was on the seat (hope that is what you call it)

[skinny]

I personally didn't retrain into the career field an have never retrained period so I couldn't tell you anything about that process. I can tell you to expect about 3-4 weeks EAUC, I think SERE was about 2 weeks and then another 3 days for water survival. Altus can be anywhere between 6-9 months due to flying schedules, weather cancels, hooked check rides, etc. As for books to read...nothing out there really pertaining to A/R but you can always go here and read up on basic weight and balance as well as basic theory of flight.

Not to sound weird or anything, but grow bigger bewbs so more of your chest fits in the "chair". No, they don't make different sizes. I have a friend that is well over 6 feet tall and about 250. I'm 5'8" 160 and we both refuel using the same equipment. Get comfy, you could be back there upwards of 3 hours.

Edited November 23, 2009 by skinny

[Guest jsd641]

Thanks for the quick response. I love this site. My classes (BBOC and EAUC) start in Lackland and SERE/Water Survival are at Fairchild. No information on the Altus portion though. Do you think the change to training locations has something to do with it?

When should I recieve that part from AFPC? Who sends down the list of required equipment for training and when should I receive it? Know any books I read to get ready for everything? I went to the AETC site and it showed a big list but I forget where it was located at. Overall, how long do you think training will be (would like to work with the 135s since I used to work on that airframe)

When I was deployed, the Wisconsin aircrew let me check out the boom area on the 135. Uh, not trying to sound weird, but do they make different size chairs for refueling? I layed down and only a small portion of my chest was on the seat (hope that is what you call it)

If your classes start in May, I would've imagined you should've gotten everything by now. My class starts on 25Jun and I got all my dates plus I know I'm going to MCconnell. Congrats on the selection by the way. I'm guessing you were one of the 4 that were chosen on the list? I got the very last slot. Maybe we'll run into each other down there.

[lilbigman]

If your classes start in May, I would've imagined you should've gotten everything by now. My class starts on 25Jun and I got all my dates plus I know I'm going to MCconnell. Congrats on the selection by the way. I'm guessing you were one of the 4 that were chosen on the list? I got the very last slot. Maybe we'll run into each other down there.

jsd641: yep, we are part of the group of four. I was lucky since my squadron actually tried to hold my paperwork up....AGAIN...so my slot would go to someone else. Are you at Kadena right now? I am here visiting my family and will be for the next two weeks (leave 9 Jan 09). Do you have any idea why I don't have my follow-on or when I should receive it? I contacted AFPC; they submitted my question but I haven't checked back for an answer yet. Prior to going on leave, they said the system went down so I am hoping whn I return I will have some type of news. What's your current career field? I am an avionics systems journeyman....GAC or IFCS for shor. Hope to hear from you soon

Edited December 22, 2009 by lilbigman

[Stunna]

jsd641: yep, we are part of the group of four. I was lucky since my squadron actually tried to hold my paperwork up....AGAIN...so my slot would go to someone else. Are you at Kadena right now? I am here visiting my family and will be for the next two weeks (leave 9 Jan 09). Do you have any idea why I don't have my follow-on or when I should receive it? I contacted AFPC; they submitted my question but I haven't checked back for an answer yet. Prior to going on leave, they said the system went down so I am hoping whn I return I will have some type of news. What's your current career field? I am an avionics systems journeyman....GAC or IFCS for shor. Hope to hear from you soon

Just saw this, feel like being nice this morning...

Unless you're coming from an overseas base, which you haven't specified, you shouldn't find out which A/C or which base you'll be assigned until you're in your Basic Boomer course. Kind of like when you had to go through EP and then go to GAC school, and they told you at your GAC course what your first base would be.

For FE's we were able to submit a dream sheet ranking our BoP (and therefore A/C) in the first week or two of training. Then they decided where they needed people, assigned us, and told us about midway through BFE. I'd assume yours is similar, except your list probably isn't as long.

As for your earlier question about what's needed for the course, what to read before hand, etc., I know that there are reporting instructions for Lackland out there somewhere, I believe they were '.mil' and I believe there may be a link to them in one of your retraining package acceptance letters/orders in the My Stuff of AFPC. For the basic courses, as FEs, all we really needed was pencils, a pen, a cheap calculator, and maybe a notebook. All of the course materials were provided. I did some general knowledge type reading into the background of my AFSC prior to school, but that's about it. As one of my instructors used to say, don't get wrapped around the axle about it. These are basic courses, designed to see if you can hack the general knowledge of the job. Work hard, have fun, and i guess PM me if you have any more general CEA questions, I've been out of AETC less than a year still.

[skinny]

Like Stunna said, everyone goes to Altus by the Sea for BBOC, from there, some will go to Travis or McGuire for KC-10 IQT and the rest will stay at Altus for 135 IQT. Until that bit of information is known, you probably won't get a follow-on anytime before Altus. Good luck. Cheers...

[JarheadBoom]

Like Stunna said, everyone goes to Altus by the Sea for BBOC

Negative. BBOC has moved to the Center of Excellence at Lackland.

After BBOC, the path remains the same - KC-10 booms go to McGuire or Travis (you train where you'll be stationed); KC-135 booms go to Altus for BIQ, then their duty station for mission qualification.

[skinny]

Touche. It's been a while for this guy. Thanks for the correction JHB.

[JarheadBoom]

No biggie. I only know because we just got our 3rd FNB back from Lackland...

[lilbigman]

Just an update on my end for my retraining beginning in May. I have 95% of my gear, car is primed and ready, I'm hyped as hell to begin, but I just keep laughing at the repot date to the class. It's on the 14th of May, which is nice considering it's on a Friday. The funny part is this will be the first time I have ever reported to a class at the end of the week. Yeah, I know, stupid, but funny as hell to me. Only time I was at Lackland was basic training, and I was ready to leave at that point and time. Screw sghtseeing. But now, of course, it's a little different. So anyone have any suggestions on places to eat, sightseeing tips, and my favorite, were to stay if they don't put me on base? I hear there are a lot of things to do and see there so I am definitely ready for my training to begin. Any and all suggestions are welcome. I may be adding on to this thread once I find out what airframe I will assigned to all, same questions again. Thanks in advance

[Guest Crew Report]

You're probably going to be on base. And you'll need a car since BEQ is on the training side of Lackland and BBOC/EAUC is on the Medina Annex. Do you know what base you're PCSing to yet? I received my assignment RIP before I even started the retraining process back in 2006.

[lilbigman]

Was told I would get my assigment about a month prior to my BBOC class. I heard they are filling up the McConnell slots so I may get there. No biggie where I go really. Just want to enjoy what I am goi to be doing.

[Guest Crew Report]

Was told I would get my assigment about a month prior to my BBOC class. I heard they are filling up the McConnell slots so I may get there. No biggie where I go really. Just want to enjoy what I am goi to be doing.

Where you go will be very dependent on if you enjoy what you do. You could go to Kadena and only worry about Boom/Drogue refueling. You could go to McConnell and learn R/T, SOAR, MPRS, ROBE, etc. Or you could go to Fairchild and not deploy to the Deid.